Iraqi dinar’s exchange rate slightly rises following sharp decline

An employee of a currency exchange shop shows a stack of Iraqi dinars in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar governorate. Photo: AFP/Getty Images Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The exchange rate for the Iraqi dinar compared to the US dollar slightly declined on Wednesday evening in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Erbil, following a sharp rise earlier in the morning. The US dollar exchange rate declined in Baghdad’s al-Kifah and al-Harithiya stock exchanges, reaching 1,670 Iraqi dinars compared to 1,685 Iraqi dinars on Wednesday morning. The exchange rate in currency exchange shops in Baghdad ranged between 1,675 Iraqi dinars and 1,665 Iraqi dinars, Shafaq News reported. In Erbil, the US dollar exchange rate also declined, fluctuating between 1,667 and 1,666 Iraqi dinars. US dollar exchange rates rose noticeably in the Baghdad and Erbil markets on Wednesday morning, following the cabinet’s decision to revalue the official rate of the local currency, causing turbulence and instability in the parallel market. Iraq officially depreciated its national currency, with the baseline dropping from about 1,300 Iraqi dinars to 1,500 dinars per US dollar. The Iraqi cabinet approved on Tuesday the structural adjustment, which marks a 14.5 percent decline compared to the previous official framework that had been in place since early 2023. Following the announcement, parallel market rates in Baghdad and Erbil soared, with exchange shops reporting market gains of more than 1,700 Iraqi dinars per US dollar.